Exhibition/event has ended.
Lineage of Paintings of Beautiful Women from the Edo period to the Modern Age
MOA Museum of Art
Finished
SHARE
Artists
Shunsho Katsukawa, Eishi Chobunsai, Utamaro Kitagawa, Harunobu Suzuki, Shoen Uemura
Once the Sengoku Period (1467-1603) - “the age of civil wars” - was over, people in Japan started to enjoy life more. Many paintings produced in the relatively peaceful years thereafter show the recreational activities and amusements of normal people. With the start of the Edo Period (1603-1868), people also started to take a keen interest in the garments, the poses, and the facial expressions of the women in yuraku-zu (paintings of amusements) and bijinga (portrayals of beautiful women), which featured popular yujo (prostitutes) and kanban musume (poster girls) of the times. Many unique and tasteful works were created by painters such as Shunsho Katsukawa, who depicted noble and elegant women in detailed sketches, and Utamaro Kitagawa, who produced bijin okubi-e (large-headed pictures of beautiful women) showing women’s expressive faces filling the entire picture space.
As modernization of Japanese culture during the Meiji Period advanced, yet more colorful pictorial works began to be produced. At the same time, along with the revival of Japanese painting tradition, traditional style bijinga paintings also reappeared. Shinsui Ito produced vivid images of women in both woodblock prints and drawings. Furthermore, Shoen Umemura, an important female nihonga artist in Kyoto, drew bijinga with delicate and flowing lines that captured careful details in rich colors.
In this exhibition you can see both woodblock prints and drawings from the museum collections that feature women and trace the lineage of bijinga paintings. Enjoy the aesthetic sense of each of the artists, as well as the various tastes and fashions of the times reflected in their work.
As modernization of Japanese culture during the Meiji Period advanced, yet more colorful pictorial works began to be produced. At the same time, along with the revival of Japanese painting tradition, traditional style bijinga paintings also reappeared. Shinsui Ito produced vivid images of women in both woodblock prints and drawings. Furthermore, Shoen Umemura, an important female nihonga artist in Kyoto, drew bijinga with delicate and flowing lines that captured careful details in rich colors.
In this exhibition you can see both woodblock prints and drawings from the museum collections that feature women and trace the lineage of bijinga paintings. Enjoy the aesthetic sense of each of the artists, as well as the various tastes and fashions of the times reflected in their work.
Schedule | Jun 9 (Fri) 2017-Jul 18 (Tue) 2017 Opening Hours Information
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Adults ¥1760; University and High School Students ¥1100; Seniors 65 & Over ¥1540; Junior High School Students and Under, Persons with Disability Certificates + 2 Companion free | ||||
| Venue | MOA Museum of Art https://www.moaart.or.jp/eng_work/  | ||||
| Location | 26-2 Momoyama-cho, Atami-shi, Shizuoka 413-8511 | ||||
| Access | 5 minutes by taxi from JR Atami Station; From JR Atami Station, take the Izu Tokai bus towards MOA Museum of Art and get off at MOA Museum of Art. | ||||
| Phone | 0557-84-2511 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
Back to Articles
SHARE